Music Review Portfolio | Áine Byrne

Interpol post-punk revivalists for the first of three shows arrived at the Olympia in Dublin as part of their El Pintor tour. Rock artists Health from LA intrigued on support, merging electro and rock into a hard to ignore sound. Blood coloured lights shone across Banks and the new Interpol live line-ups smirking faces. Smirking because,…

Musician, film maker, composer and author – Gruff Rhys arrived to perform a sold out show at the Pepper Canister Church in a quaint street in Georgian Dublin. Rhys is known for – his solo work across the world, as lead singer of both ‘Super Furry Animals’ and ‘Neon Neon’, and his Mogwai, Dangermouse and…

“How wonderful life is now you’re in the world.” Legend Elton John, also known as Sir Elton Hercules John, and his band played at the 3Arena last night. A jam packed arena awaited them and almost every seat of the 14,500 space was filled. Dazzling like a puff of magic across the stage, John was…

Swedish act Little Dragon formed their electronic band in Gothenburg in 1996, comprising of Yukimi Nagano (lead vocalist), Hakan Wirenstrand (keys), Erik Bodin (drums) and Fredrik Kallgren (bass/keys). They named themselves after Nagano’s nickname because she often threw tantrums during recording. TV drama Grey’s Anatomy exposed them slightly during album Machine Dreams (2009). Album Ritual…

“Streets are lined with people, people who want to move, move, move.” – La Roux It’s been a long five years since statuesque red one ‘La Roux’ (Elly Jackson) released her smash hit debut album ‘Bulletproof’ (2009). After an acrimonious split from producer Ben Langmaid, Jackson placed the recording of her second album on hold…

Arriving at Martha Wainwright’s concert, one would have found themselves in the middle of protest. Well a mini protest, clad with banners and placards showing images of the effects of Palestine-Israeli warfare. Anti-Israel leaflets were being passed around in order to stop Wainwright playing her next concert in Israel. Stepping inside the venue, it was a different story,…

Colorado act ‘The Fray’ landed in Dublin town to blow their dedicated fans and followers minds away. Uber popular Irish act Raglans were great in support. Check them out on Breaking Tunes -’Digging Holes’ and ‘Natives’ makes you sit up and take notice (Arctic Monkey’s style). They have a new album, great lyrics/vocals/guitar skills and are…

First Aid Kit at The Olympia Theatre, Dublin – September 18th Red smoke billowed around the stage as the audience waited in anticipation for Swedish act First Aid Kit and their country-folk sounds. Jo Rose was the chosen one to support their European tour. His chilled out, country-folk style songs went down well. When Klara…

Marissa Nadler @The Button Factory, Dublin – Friday 6th September 2014 Marissa Nadler is a American folk musician based in Boston. Nadler began her performing career in 2001 after writing songs for many years and studying Illustration at Rhode Island School of Design. She plays six and twelve string guitar, piano, ukelele, banjo. Her vocal…

Fox Owl Crow at The Bewley’s Cafe Theatre Friday, 22nd August 2014 Fox Owl Crow merges different genres from art-rock, folk to prog-rock. Formed a year ago by Suzanne McEnaney (guitars/multi-instrumentals/vocals), it was her talent that attracted the other highly talented multi-instrumentalists to the show: Sebastian Boes (drums/hammered dulcimer/glockenspiel), Carol Faherty (guitars/multi-instrumentals/vocals) and Frieda Freytag…

Preachers Son’s ’10 Stories Tall’ album – Review Preachers Son was formed by Brian Hogan in 2009 (bass player with Irish folk rock act Kíla), and the band has one album ‘Love Life and Limb’ (2010). Hogan leads the band by collaborating with an array of leading musicians and producers such as Gavin Friday, Mark…

Cat Power at The Olympia Theatre, Dublin – July 16th “It’s your responsibility as an artist to stand up if you believe in something.” Patti Smith Cat Power played to a full theatre, hopes were certainly high and the crowd of supporters were looking forward to seeing Chan Marshall break her record of poor gig performances…